Marcel Spatari about retirement age: We must maintain a balance

23.11.2021 06:30
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3 minute(s)

The Government will endorse the PAS bill that modifies the retirement age. The minister of labor and social protection said the given bill by which the old PSRM-ȘOR law that lowers the retirement age is amended comes to restore a balance in the pension system. Marcel Spatari said the economic and demographic tendencies in Moldova and in the region point to the necessity of gradually increasing the retirement age, IPN reports.

The minister said the PAS bill by which the old system for raising the retirement age is restored is opportune as it is designed to maintain a balance between the number of working people and the number of pensioners.

“The retirement age for men is 63, with an insurance period of 34 years, while for women, as from January 1, 2022, will be 59 years and six months. Now it is 59 years. In the case of women, the retirement age rises by six months every six months. Until 2028, the retirement age for women will be 63. All the data show that after the age of 63, most of the men and women continue to work. The Government will approve the bill as this way we will maintain a balance in the pension system and can offer higher pensions to the current recipients of pensions,” Marcel Spatari stated in the program “Emphasis on Today” on TVR Moldova channel.

According to the official, the gradual rise in the retirement age of women, up to 63, will ensure the sustainability of the pension system and will enable the state to provide fewer, but higher pensions.

“When you reduce the retirement age significantly, this means that the state social insurance budget should be raised by 1.6 billion lei. These were the CNAS’ estimates. This means that the money should come from the contributions of those who work. If the collected contributions are not enough, money should come from the state budget. The question then was, how to spend this 1.6 billion lei. We should give this money to those who work and can yet work for 2-3 years or to those with small pensions? We allocated 2 billion lei in October for increasing the minimum pension,” stated Marcel Spatari.

In December 2020, the tacit PSRM-Șor coalition adopted a bill to annul the law that increased the retirement age. Under that bill, the standard retirement age of 57 for women and of 62 for men was to be restored on January 1, 2022.